DENVER — After spending 15 years in prison, a Denver man is free after a judge erased his convictions.

James Garner was serving a 32 year sentence for a 2009 triple shooting at a Denver bar. On Wednesday, a judge in Adams County ordered his release.

“James Garner is a wonderful man, he is a father, he has a loving family,” said Jeanne Segil, Garner’s attorney from the Korey Wise Innocence Project, who represented him in post-conviction proceedings.

According to Segil, the case against Garner began when he went to a bar off West 52nd Avenue and Pecos Street in November 2009 to celebrate his birthday.

“That was the night his whole life changed,” she said.

During the celebration, someone opened fire, wounding three brothers who all survived their injuries. Garner became the focus of the investigation after his glasses were found at the scene.

However, Segil emphasized that the initial evidence against Garner was weak.

“Prior to trial, there was no real evidence that James Garner was the shooter,” she said.

The brothers initially provided descriptions to police that “did not match Mr. Garner,” according to Segil. In fact, when shown photo arrays a few months after the shooting, they failed to identify Garner as the perpetrator.

It wasn’t until nearly three years later, during the trial, that all three victims identified Garner as the shooter.

“At trial for the first time, all three brothers pointed to Mr. Garner, said that he was the shooter, they were certain he was the shooter, and they would never send an innocent man to prison,” Segil explained.

While these in-court identifications convinced the jury at the time, Segil said new scientific research undermined their reliability.

“Really our goal was to highlight the unreliability of those in-court identifications because those really were the crux of the case,” she said. “A jury is really likely to believe these confident in-court identifications even though they are incredibly suggestive.”

The new research was pivotal in the judge’s decision to overturn the conviction.

“The new science today really shows that the first test was the reliable one, and their failure to identify Mr. Garner — that’s actually probative of innocence,” Segil said.

After Garner was released Wednesday night, he was immediately reunited with family members.

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